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More people die in winter cold waves than in hurricanes, tornadoes or any other weather phenomena. Many of these deaths can be attributed to hypothermia — an abnormally low internal body temperature caused by exposure to cold, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Services.
At greatest risk are the elderly, who probably account for nearly half of all hypothermia victims. According to the Center of Environmental Physiology, a national nonprofit research organization which studies and reports on the effects of heat and cold stress, tens of thousands of older Americans literally “freeze to death” in their own homes each year.
These deaths result from cool indoor temperatures, not prolonged exposure out-of-doors. Therefore, older adults in the nation’s sunbelt are no less vulnerable than their northern cousins, although it is less expensive to heat their homes.
Factors such as living alone, low income, poor diet, illness, limited physical activity, and use of alcohol or certain types of prescription drugs place many older Americans at greater risk. Hypothermia can also worsen pre-existing conditions and diseases in older people. Many deaths are initiated by hypothermia, although another disease is ultimately listed as the cause of death.
95.9%